Underwater forest in the Gulf acts as climate change time capsule

An underwater cypress forest off the coast of Alabama is a snapshot of what life was like along the Gulf of Mexico more than 50,000 years ago, according to researchers. Tree samples taken from the forest were found to be so old that they could not be radio-carbon dated.

AL.com environmental reporter Ben Raines organized the first scientific missions to the ancient underwater cypress forest south of Gulf Shores, Ala. Since then, researchers have discovered that the trees predate the most recent ice age, which occurred about 12,000 to 18,000 years ago, by nearly 40,000 years.

When the trees were above water, the Gulf Coast sea level was hundreds of feet lower and the coastline was 30 to 60 miles farther offshore, according to AL.com. A NPR story highlights some of the most recent discoveries made by researchers studying the underwater forest.

"It's a huge deal," Kristine DeLong, a paleo-climatologist at Louisiana State University, told NPR. "Because here we have this like perfectly preserved time capsule of an ice age forest."